Whenever the employees’ fall protection is ignored, the employer should be prepared to either rescue a fall victim or retrieve a body.
The OSHA Fall Protection & Prevention Standard for Construction (1926.501(b)(10)) stipulates the employer’s duty to provide fall protection for his employees working on low- or high-pitch roofs with unprotected sides and edges 6 feet or more above a lower level.
After 35 years walking a pitch and 15 years of safety training, I can assure you that this “duty clause” is practically time and cost prohibitive to implement all the time on every job. On a small portion of roof jobs, fall protection installation and use may be impossible to construct, or if worn properly, make it infeasible to complete the roofing tasks. Fall protection systems may also create another (or multiple) hazard that is more likely to cause an accident (probability) or else increase the damaging physical effects of an accident (severity).